How to list folders or items in a user's mailbox by using the HttpWebRequest class and the HttpWebResponse class in Visual Basic .NET (314196)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (2002)
  • Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (2003)

This article was previously published under Q314196
For a Microsoft Visual C# .NET version of this article, see 313129.

SUMMARY

This article describes how to use the HttpWebRequest class and the HttpWebResponse class from the "System.Net" namespace to list folders or items in a user's mailbox on a computer that is running Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server by using Microsoft Visual Basic .NET.

MORE INFORMATION

To list folders or items in a user's mailbox, follow these steps:
  1. Start Microsoft Visual Studio .NET.
  2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.
  3. In the Visual Basic Projects types list, click Console Application.

    By default, the Module1.vb file is created.
  4. In the code window, replace the code with the following:
    Imports System.Net
    Imports System.IO
    
    Module Module1
        Sub Main()
            ' TODO: Replace with your folder URL.
            Dim sUri As String = "http://ExchServer/public/"
            Dim myUri As System.Uri = New System.Uri(sUri)
            Dim HttpWRequest As HttpWebRequest = WebRequest.Create(myUri)
    
            Dim sQuery As String
            sQuery = "<?xml version='1.0'?>" & _
             "<g:searchrequest xmlns:g='DAV:'>" & _
             "<g:sql>SELECT ""DAV:displayname"" " & _
             "FROM SCOPE('SHALLOW TRAVERSAL OF """ & sUri & """')"
            ' TODO: Make DAV:isfolder = true if you want to retrieve subfolders,
            ' and make DAV:isfolder = false to retrieve items.
            sQuery = sQuery & " WHERE ""DAV:isfolder"" = false" & _
             "</g:sql>" & _
             "</g:searchrequest>"
    
            ' TODO: Replace with the appropriate user credentials.
            Dim myCred As NetworkCredential = New NetworkCredential("Domain\UserName", "Password")
            Dim MyCredentialCache As CredentialCache = New CredentialCache()
            MyCredentialCache.Add(myUri, "Basic", myCred)
            HttpWRequest.Credentials = MyCredentialCache
    
            'Set the headers.
            HttpWRequest.KeepAlive = False
            HttpWRequest.Headers.Set("Pragma", "no-cache")
            HttpWRequest.Headers.Set("Translate", "f")
            HttpWRequest.Headers.Set("Depth", "0")
            HttpWRequest.ContentType = "text/xml"
            HttpWRequest.ContentLength = sQuery.Length
    
            'Set the request timeout to 5 minutes.
            HttpWRequest.Timeout = 300000
            ' set the request method
            HttpWRequest.Method = "SEARCH"
    
            'Store the data in a byte array.
            Dim ByteQuery() As Byte = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(sQuery)
            HttpWRequest.ContentLength = ByteQuery.Length
            Dim QueryStream As Stream = HttpWRequest.GetRequestStream()
            ' write the data to be posted to the Request Stream
            QueryStream.Write(ByteQuery, 0, ByteQuery.Length)
            QueryStream.Close()
    
            ' Send the request and get the response.
            Dim HttpWResponse As HttpWebResponse = HttpWRequest.GetResponse()
    
            ' Get the status and the headers.
            Dim iStatCode As Integer = HttpWResponse.StatusCode
            Dim sStatus As String = iStatCode.ToString()
            Console.WriteLine("Status: {0} {1}", sStatus, HttpWResponse.StatusDescription.ToString())
    
            Console.WriteLine("Request Headers:")
            Console.WriteLine(HttpWRequest.Headers.ToString())
            Console.WriteLine("Response Headers:")
            Console.WriteLine(HttpWResponse.Headers.ToString())
    
            ' Get the response stream.
            Dim strm As Stream = HttpWResponse.GetResponseStream()
    
            ' Read the response stream.
            Dim sr As StreamReader = New StreamReader(strm)
            Dim sText As String = sr.ReadToEnd()
            Console.WriteLine("Response: {0}", sText)
    
            ' Close the stream.
            strm.Close()
    
            ' Clean up
            HttpWRequest = Nothing
            HttpWResponse = Nothing
            MyCredentialCache = Nothing
            myCred = Nothing
            strm = Nothing
            sr = Nothing
        End Sub
    End Module
  5. Search for the TODO text string in the code, and then modify the code for your environment.
  6. Press F5 to build and to run the program.
  7. Make sure that the folders or the items have been retrieved from the response stream.

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:4/13/2004
Keywords:kbHOWTOmaster KB314196 kbAudDeveloper